よそよそしい

• 読み: よそよそしい
• ローマ字: yosoyososhii
• 発音: /jo.so.jo.so.ɕiː/

意味

Distant; cold; aloof; standoffish. Describes behaviour that maintains an awkward, deliberate distance — as if treating a familiar person like a stranger.

An i-adjective formed by reduplicating よそ (elsewhere, another) and adding しい. It captures the discomfort of someone acting formally or coolly toward a person they should be warm with — after a falling-out, for instance, or when someone is deliberately keeping others at arm's length. The nuance is that the distance is affected or deliberate, not natural. It can also describe a cold workplace atmosphere.

例文

1. 久しぶりに会った友人がよそよそしい態度をとっていたので、何かあったのかと不安になった。
2. 口論の後、二人はしばらくよそよそしい関係が続いた。
3. よそよそしい雰囲気の職場では、チームワークが育ちにくい。

使い方ガイド

場面: interpersonal relations, workplace, social awkwardness

トーン: negative

起源と歴史

Formed from よそ (another place, outsider) reduplicated with the i-adjective suffix しい. The reduplication intensifies the sense of deliberate otherness — treating one's close circle as if they were strangers from elsewhere.

文化的背景

時代: Modern

世代: All ages

社会的背景: General